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The Hood River News, Hood River, OR., October 29, 1913, page 6

SINGS THE PRAISES OF HOOD RIVER

Addison Benett, special writer for the Oregonian, was here a few days ago and his trips around the valley inspired a three-column story with illustrations in Sunday's Oregonian. We reprint a couple of paragraphs anent to Hood River's scenic beauties and climate:
"When is the proper time to visit Hood River and the Hood River Valley and see those places at their best? That all depends upon the ideas of the visitor, but I should say the best time is the first opportunity you have regardless of season, provided there is no snow on the ground. I have visited the valley in all seasons of the year; in the dead of winter when the ice king reigned; in the spring when the pussy-willows were first sending forth their buds; in the late spring when the valley with a vast field of blooms and blossoms; when the luscious strawberries were ripe; when the cherries were at their best; when peaches were tempting the palates of all who could get in touch with specimens of that the luscious fruit from that wonderful valley; and later when the apple trees were beginning to bend under their burden of fruit; still later when the various varieties of apples were beginning to show their color, and finally when the ripened fruit was being picked and sent to the packing houses, as it is being sent now.
"The name Hood River is almost a magic word, Hood River Valley is almost a magic spot. To call the valley a wonderland requires no stretch of the imagination, to called many of the products, strawberries, cherries, peaches, pears and apples, wonderful products is not merely a figure of speech -- it is solid and inconvertible truth.
"Just now when the apple harvest is on the full it will be well to dismiss the consideration of all other products save the apple, to dismiss the consideration of all varieties of apples save the Newton Pippens, the Spitzenburgs and the Ortleys. Not for the reason that no other varieties are grown, for many other sorts are grown in large quantities -- but because the growers of the valley have elected to stand or fall by the production of these three varieties.
"You must visit the place at various seasons of the year to learn all the good things to be said about Hood River Valley. The citizens of the town and the valley will tell you that there is no finer climate in the world that they have here, and they are not far amiss, if any. There are residents in the valley from all sections of the country and every one of them will tell you that there is no spot with such a delightful climate as that of this valley.

Climate Helpful to Apples

The winters are cold at times. The thermometer often creeps down well below zero. There are deep snows in parts of the valley, sometimes over the entire area. But did you ever hear of good apples being produced were the frosts do not come to lay the trees dormant and the soil also? Continual hot weather is just as fatal to the growth of perfect apples as it is to the growth of perfect manhood. There would be no such thing as civilization without the fireside, there would be no fireside if the world was all tropical.
The winters in the Hood River valley are as delightful as the summers. The air is crisp, exhilarating, life-giving. Tuberculosis would never have appeared in the world were all climates like the Hood River climate -- if all climates in the country were like the Hood River climate the United States would be one huge health resort. The summers are just simply ideal. The sun shines warm and it shines nearly every day. But when Sol sinks behind the Western hills the air almost instantly cools, a little breeze springs up, you thank God for allowing you to lived in such a climate, you go to bed and draw a blanket or two over you and get up in the morning refreshed, rejuvenated, your youth restored.
"There are no flies, no mosquitoes, no cyclones to dread, no sharp lightnings or thunder crashes to unnerve you -- but why go on? Seek out somebody who has tried Hood River as a place of residence and left, you can find none such unless it be someone who came in with a shoestring and it expected to instantly turn it into a pair of laced boots -- some person who, in the vernacular, bit off more than he could chew.' Any fair-minded person who knows will tell you, truthfully tell you, that there is no finer climate to live in in the world (or in any portion of it they know of) than the climate of the Hood River Valley."